Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
“That was so good,” Kate groaned, touching her stomach. “But I shouldn’t have eaten that last piece of brownie.”
She still had some crumbs on her lips. He reached out to wipe them away, and her breath quickened.
He wanted to pull her under him right now. The only thing stopping him was the fact that at least two members of his family were here, running the movie for them. Even though he’d parked so nobody could see them, he still had some self-restraint.
Not much, though. Not when this woman had dressed just for him. She was leaning against him, her hair tumbling down over her smooth shoulders, her bare legs stretched out in front of her, as she watched Grace Kelly get drunk and start to flirt with Frank Sinatra.
He slid his arm around her. “You warm enough?” he asked. “I brought another blanket.”
“I’m good. You have enough heat for the whole town.”
Yeah, he’d always been hot-blooded. It mostly came from never being able to sit still. He could now though. Having her against him, her soft body molded into his, felt like a little piece of heaven. He didn’t want it to end.
“What did you tell the kids you were doing tonight?” he asked.
“I just said I was going out with Shana.” She turned to look at him. “Not because I’m trying to hide anything. I just…” She smiled softly at him. “Their hearts are tender, I guess.”
“You don’t need to be afraid of me. My intentions are real.” There, he’d said it. “I know we need to get them used to us slowly. I’ll go as slow as you want. But I’m not going anywhere.” He just wanted her happy, always.
Her lips parted but she said nothing. Just stared at him like he was some kind of eighth wonder.
“What do you see in me?” she whispered. “Most guys would see a single mom with three kids and run.”
“The guys on your dating app didn’t.”
“I deleted that as soon as I could.” She rolled her eyes at him, smiling. Because he knew this.
“Good.” He reached out to trace her jaw with his calloused fingers. He’d never get used to how smooth her skin felt. It made his body feel tight. Needy. “And what I see in you is a prize. Your kids aren’t a burden. They’re part of you. And I want all of it.” He shook his head. “Don’t you see? I’ve been waiting for you to be ready. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Her chest hitched. “What about when Addy and Ethan are teenagers? Screaming around the house? Will you feel the same, then?”
“Do you feel the same about James?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “But he’s mine.”
“And I’d like them all to be mine, in time.” He kissed her jaw. “And I’m not trying to erase Paul. They’ll always be his. But maybe they can be mine, too.” He needed that like he needed her. Not just because he wanted to protect them, though that was always important. But because he loved spending time with them. The same way he loved being with her.
“Are you still talking about the kids?” she whispered, her voice full of emotion.
“Partly.” But they both knew he was talking about her, too. “I’m serious about this. About us.”
He knew she was finding it hard to move on. And he’d wait for as long as she needed.
“And I like to think that Paul would be okay with this.” He’d been thinking about it a lot. “I never would have touched you if I didn’t believe that.”
“He would.” She nodded. “He had the most generous heart.”
“And so do you. And your kids.” He wiped away the tear that escaped her eye. “I know it’s been hard on you. So damn hard, Kate. Being alone. Trying to rebuild your life. Taking care of three kids. But you don’t have to do it on your own. Let me in. Let me be a part of it. Part of you. Let me look after you.”
She didn’t reply. But then she didn’t need to, because her mouth was on his, kissing him so softly it made every part of him ache. It was a yes without words, an opening. He curled his hand around the back of her neck, kissing her back.
Every part of him felt like he was on fire. In the best of ways. Like she was burning away the old him, revealing new skin, new everything. She groaned against his lips and it felt like they were leaving everything behind.
The future looked good. It was his and hers to take.
And then his phone started beeping.
Kate's eyes widened because she knew that alert sound as well as he did. Every wife of a firefighter knew it. Even those who hadn’t heard it for a couple of years.
“I’m not on call tonight,” he told her, firmly swiping the alert app shut and throwing his phone back on the blanket. And yeah, it had almost killed him not to read what the alert was about. But she was important. More than important.
He needed to show her that.
“Don’t you want to know what’s happening?” she asked him.
She knew him too well.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes met his. “Of course it does. I know you better than that.” She picked his phone up and held it out to him. “You can look. If it’s bad…”
If it’s bad he’d need to go. Because the service always came first. “Kate…”
“Just look. It’s okay. If somebody’s in trouble…” She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s okay,” she said again. “Please look.”
So he did. Pulling the app back up, he quickly skimmed the words on the alert. Then he looked at her, a soft smile on his lips. “It’s a request for backup from the Maple Cross volunteers. They’re taking the lead. It’s fine.”
The sound of a siren cut through the night air. And yes, he could feel the call of it. The way any of the volunteers did when they weren’t available. The guilt, the need to take care of the team never truly went away.
But this woman… she was more than any of it. He needed to show her.
“I would never expect you to ignore a call out,” she told him. “Not ever. I need you to know that. Yes, I find it hard at times. I’m afraid that you might get hurt. But I know it would hurt you more not to be part of the department.”
“You’re afraid that I might get hurt?” he asked, half smiling again.
“Is that funny?”
“No. It’s sweet.” He liked that way too much.
“You’re not the only one who’s falling, you know,” she whispered.
And damn it, he had to kiss her again. Their mouths moved slowly together as Bing Crosby started singing again. Her hand was on his chest, moving down. Every part of him felt like he was on fire.
“You know the best thing about having a favorite movie?” Kate asked him, her mouth sliding down to his jaw.
“What?” His voice was as tight as the rest of his body. She was falling for him. He ached for her. Why did he think it was a good idea to take her to his family’s drive-in movie theater?
“I know the ending.” She pulled away from him, smiling. “Now take me to your house. Before I start humping your leg like a puppy.”
He wasn’t as much of a steady driver on the way home. Maybe because she had her hand on his thigh, near the top of it, her fingers kneading his hard leg muscles as he drove along the empty country road. He hadn’t bothered to put on any music, and she was glad about that.
She liked the silence. The tension. Because tonight she was going to give everything to this man.
Being wanted by him was all she wanted right now. And yes, there was still that nervous feeling popping and firing in her lower belly.
They drove past her road, and she couldn’t help but look down it, to the house on the end. A fleeting glance, that was all, because her mind was on other things.
On this man and the way he could kiss. The way he made her feel so good.
When he pulled into his driveway she yanked her door open before he could walk around to help her down. She’d put her shoes back on, so it was with tentative feet that she tried to climb out of the cab of his truck.
“You took my job,” he murmured, taking her hand and helping her down the rest of the way.
“Call your union,” she told him dryly.
He grinned. “Haven’t got time for that.”
She wasn’t sure which of them was more eager to get inside his house. She managed to only stumble once in her hurry to get up the steps to his front door, and he scooped her up again, one arm around her, the other holding his keys, opening the door and pulling her inside before he closed the world out.
He pulled his shoes off and she went to do the same.
Marley shook his head. “Keep them on. For me.”
Oh, he liked them. She could tell that from the way his gaze slowly rose up from her shoes, her legs, to the deep vee of her dress. She liked that way too much.
“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?” he asked.
“You did. But you can do it again.” She was smiling now, because she felt so at ease it wasn’t funny. Yes, there was that delicious lick of anticipation too, but she wasn’t afraid. Not of him.
He’d proved more than once that he knew how to take care of her. That her comfort was his goal. She wanted this. She wanted him.
More than she’d wanted anything in a long, long time.
And he’d made it quite clear he was hers for the taking.
This man had given her so much. Not just the way he took care of her – though that was more than enough. It was the way he understood her. Took things at her pace.
And when she’d wavered earlier in the week, he’d accepted that. Given her the space she needed to realize that this was what she wanted.
She reached behind herself to pull down the zipper of her dress. Marley swallowed hard, his eyes dark as the lace bodice fell to her waist. There was a look of wonderment on his face as he took in the lacy ivory bra she’d bought especially for him. And the way her creamy breasts spilled over the demi cup. It was completely impractical yet so perfect for tonight.
He let out a long, low breath.
“I have matching panties on,” she whispered.
“Fuck,” he groaned.
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her aching breasts against the hard planes of his chest. He was hard already. She loved the way she could feel him pressed against her stomach.
She had plans for this man. He’d given and given. It was time for him to take. And she was the willing donor, that was for sure. There was nothing she wanted more than to see this man lose control. To see him finally relax. To stop taking care of everybody else and think of himself for once.
She let her dress fall to the floor in his hallway. His eyes widened. Darkened. As he took in her ivory lace thong, and the stupid high heels she was still wearing.
“Do you know how much I want you right now?” she asked him.
“Tell me.”
Oh, he was making her work for it. Good. She wanted to. “I want to feel you in my mouth so badly. It’s all I’ve thought about all day. I want to taste you.”
She wanted to worship him, let him feel the way he made her feel.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know that.” Her gaze didn’t waver from his. “But I want to.”
Before he could say anything else, she dropped to her knees and pulled at his zipper. Her hand curled around him, through the cotton fabric of his shorts. Feeling the thickness, the heat.
“You look amazing,” he told her. “Your body is so damn beautiful.”
She adored this man. Because she knew he meant her breasts by the way he was staring at them.
“I bought this lingerie for you,” she told him. “It’s all for you.”
“Then let me kiss you.”
“Not until I’ve kissed you.” She pulled him out of his shorts, her breath hitching at the sight of his thickness. He reached down to touch her breasts, his fingers tracing the swell of them, then dipping inside the lace.
Was it possible to come from giving somebody a blow job? Or before you’ve even wrapped your lips around them? She wasn’t sure, but damn, she was already close.
Taking a long, slow lick of him, she let out a groan. He did, too. His fingers moved into her hair as she wrapped her lips around his tip, sucking at him, then slowly hollowing her cheeks to pull him into the warm velvet of her mouth.
“Christ,” he muttered.
She moved her mouth along his length, savoring the hard heat of this man.
“Look at me,” he said hoarsely.
And she did. There was something in his gaze that made her want to give him everything. Not just wonder, but pure need, too. She curled her tongue around him, sucking him in again, finding a rhythm that made his breath speed and his fingers curl into her hair.
He needed this. She did, too. Needed to feel the pure maleness of him. To connect with him on a level she hadn’t realized how much she missed. She felt feminine at his feet. But not weak, not at all.
There was a power to the way he was whispering her name. A strength to the way she could make this man’s body respond to her.
“Kate, you need to stop,” he grunted, trying to stay the movement of her head with his palm.
But she didn’t want to. She wanted his pleasure. There would be later orgasms. They had all night. She needed to taste him. To show him just how much he meant to her.
She looked up at him through her thick lashes, and he let out a strangled groan.
“Do you know how beautiful you look with me in your mouth?” he rasped.
Yeah, she did, because she could see it reflected back in his gaze. Yes, there was lust. And wonderment too. But more than anything there was emotion. So much of it. She could see it in every sweep of his lashes. His fingers were threaded through her hair as she hollowed her cheeks again, pulling him in so deep she had to hold her breath.
Before she could protest, he was pulling out of her mouth, her lips feeling empty as his hardness slammed back against his stomach. He pulled his shorts back up and lifted her, his mouth hungry and demanding as he pulled her legs around his hips and turned to walk to the stairs.
“I’m not coming in your mouth,” he told her. “Yet.”
She grinned at the qualifier. Because she was going to taste this man, that was for certain. But tonight – or this part of it – was his. She’d already decided that. If he wanted to carry her up the stairs in her bra and panties, he could have at it. She kicked her shoes off, afraid she might impale him with the stiletto heels, and they clattered down the steps, as she tightened her thighs around him.
Kate had her arms around his neck as he strode up the stairs, his shoulder muscles twisting and knotting as he carried her with him. His room was the first on the right, and he kicked the door open and practically threw her on the bed.
“Stay there,” he told her, as she reached for him. “I need to look at you for a moment.”
Their eyes met and she could feel his adoration down to her toes. And she did as she was told, because she could sense he needed this.
“Do you know how much I’ve imagined this. You in my bed?” There was a hoarseness to his voice that sent a shiver down her spine.
“You don’t have to imagine anymore,” she whispered, unfastening her bra and throwing it to the side. She couldn’t think of anywhere else she wanted to be right now more than on this man’s perfectly made bed, her body open to him.
She felt like she was falling and had no idea if there was a soft landing.
A slow smile pulled at his lips. “Show me the rest of you.”
She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and shimmied them down her hips. She’d never felt more beautiful, more wanted, as he let out a low groan of appreciation.
She looked up at him expectantly. “Are you going to undress too, or are you just going to stand there?” she teased.
“I just need to stay here for another minute.” His eyes were raking her body. “I just…” He shook his head. “I never thought…”
That she would be in his bed... “And yet here I am,” she murmured. “And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
He unfastened the buttons of his shirt, shucking the cotton off his shoulders to reveal his perfectly sculpted body. Her thighs clenched at the sight of him in the pale light of the bedside lamp. He reached down to take off his already-open pants, sliding them over his thickly muscled thighs, before kicking them to the side until he was just in his shorts, the plush tip of him escaping from his waistband.
With his eyes on hers, he slid them off, too. They were naked. Alone in his house. It felt like a gift she’d never thought she’d receive.
“Please…” she reached for him, because she couldn’t bear not to touch him for one more moment. He strode toward her, dropping to his knees and opening her legs.
“Marley,” she whispered.
“Yes?” His gaze flickered to hers once more. His eyes were dark. Full of need.
“I don’t want to come in your mouth either. I need you inside me.”
His chest hitched. “I need you to come first.”
And there he was. The man who always gave before he got.
“Feel how wet I am for you,” she murmured, taking his hand in hers. She slid it to where she needed him the most.
Marley’s throat rumbled. “Damn. I haven’t even touched you yet.”
“Your body has that effect on me.”
He grinned again. And yeah, she was still falling. Afraid and exhilarated and oh so full of desire. He climbed over her, cupping her face and brushing his lips against hers. “I need to tell you, this is probably not going to be pretty. It’s been a while.”
“Ditto.” She kissed him back, her tongue slowly sliding against his. Her fingers feathered down his back, her nails softly scraping his spine, his ass. He hitched his hips against her until he was there.
The tip of him was right where she needed him. She thought she might cry if she didn’t have him inside her soon.
“Please…”
“I’m trying to remember the last ten winners of the Stanley Cup,” he murmured.
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t think about something else I’m gonna come. And I’m not coming until you do.”
“Get inside me,” she said, smiling against his mouth because this man was going to kill her in the sweetest of ways.
And then he was there, opening her up, filling her to the hilt. And it made every part of her ache in the best way. He let out a low groan and she felt it deep inside her belly.
“Kate…”
“You can come as soon as you want,” she told him. “I just need you. That’s all.”
And of course that’s all it took for him to start moving. Because she needed him and he liked that too much.
Truth was, she did too. She liked the way he kissed her like she was some kind of goddess sent just for him. The way he looked at her as his cock swelled inside her. The way he murmured her name as her breath quickened and her body tightened with rising pleasure.
“Better than I ever imagined,” he told her, brushing his lips against hers. “So much better.”
And the thought of him imagining making love to her, when he was alone in his bed, was enough to tip her over the edge. Her muscles tightened around him, pleasure radiating through her stomach, her thighs, the tips of her toes. She called out his name, clinging onto him as he gently rolled his hips through her orgasm.
And then he stilled inside her. “Kate, fuck…” His breath caught as he started to spill inside her, his mouth falling open against hers as she held him, their bodies a slippery mess as he slowly came down.
They stayed there for a moment, him braced above Kate, as she lay beneath him, her body so relaxed she wasn’t sure she could move if she tried.
He cupped her face and kissed her softly, his eyes catching hers.
“I’m in love with you,” he told her. “And I don’t need you to say it back. In fact, I don’t want you to. I just need you to know that.”